[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Movies/Wordpress/NOV06/Gojira.flv 400 300]
I’ve never cared for the American version of the first Godzilla movie, with Raymond Burr. My son Eric rented the original 1954 Japanese version, Gojira, and it’s quite good! I’d place it alongside the best of the 1950’s American sci-fi flicks, such as Them!
I’ve picked a scene from the movie that shows the obvious influence of King Kong. Even the music here is reminiscent of Max Steiner’s score.
Gojira has a rather dark and downbeat story, with a serious message about Japan’s understandable fear of nuclear weapons testing. One of the principal actors in the movie is Takashi Shimura, who also appeared in The Seven Samurai that same year. Shimura can be seen briefly in this earlier post.
I don’t know if Dad checks the blog. His Internet connection probably isn’t fast enough to handle these videos, which stream at 512 K bits/second.
Say, Dougie, does Dad visit your blog every day? Make sure he sees this one; he’s a die-hard fan of THIS stuff!